Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

15 reviews

pandemonicbaby's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was really hoping I'd like this book more. I mean, a forbidden romance between two girls who fight against an oppressive system in search for a future where they can be together??? Sign me up!! I thought I was going to LOVE this. Instead, I just felt kind of lukewarm about it.
And don't get me wrong, I think it's SO important how we are in a time period where we're able to have bestselling YA stories with central queer storylines, stories that deal with the theme of sexual assault but focus on the victims' journeys of healing, presenting these themes in a respectful way to a younger audience. I've been having an unfortunate streak with this type of thing lately, and 2 of the last books I've read have had explicit rape scenes which made me greatly uncomfortable. I was really shocked when this book (a YA novel) had the best, most respectful depiction of it out of the 3, and handled the topic with care, moreso than any of those other books I've read. It didn't have to describe it in detail to be impactful, and fully focused on the victim's feelings afterward.
That being said, otherwise, I think this book maybe wasn't exactly for me. People who know me know I LOVE sapphic romance, and will eat up basically anything, but this romance just felt sort of rushed and not really impactful. I wasn't really excited to see them finally kiss or confess their feelings to eachother like I usually am with any sapphic couple I read about. It just felt a bit, I don't know, spiceless, saltless, like the taste of food that you usually really love but in this specific casw it just feels bland. And I don't really think it has to do with the characters themselves, but more with the way the romance was written. Also, I don't know exactly why, but I felt like I didn't really enjoy the writing style. I'm not sure what I felt was lacking in it, but I just wasn't really digging it all that much.
Also, originally, I thought all castes were human, and had NO idea there were gonna be furries in this LMFAO. That *did* make the scenes with the king especially unbearable, though, and I feel like that was probably the intent.
Anyways, it wasn't really for me, but I really do hope that some readers are able to find something they love in this book. I just really really hoped I would love it too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, War, Grief, and Outing

Minor: Alcohol, Body horror, and Infertility

Unconsensual sexual acts are mentioned various times in this book, some particularly violent. There is one explicit rape scene in this book (albeit not described in detail).

cass_ward's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Death, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Confinement, Blood, and Abortion

the dog dies< / spoiler>

rsb12's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal death, Classism, Homophobia, Murder, Death, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Outing

Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Dialogue: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Descriptions: 4.5/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
- - -
Beautifully written and gracefully takes on dark / heavy topics. The plot was captivating and the world building (it’s a Malaysian inspired fantasy) was really cool and was integrated into the story naturally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Sexual violence, Classism, Confinement, Murder, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Rape, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Minor: Infertility, Child death, and War

Although there is an abundance of trigger warnings and very heavy / dark topics within this book, they’re done with grace and class. They are not there for shock factor or anything like that. That being said, because of these triggers and topics, this book might not be right for everyone.

galexy_brain's review

adventurous challenging hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The plot was alright but gahdamn can Ngan write a romance

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Classism, Medical trauma, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infertility, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, War, Bullying, Gore, Outing, Sexual content, and Trafficking

lvjysunday's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Slavery, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Homophobia, and War

Minor: Infertility and Pedophilia

books_of_calypso's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Infertility, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Violence

planetshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Trafficking, Bullying, Gaslighting, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Outing, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

zoevjester's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is the second time I've read Girls 1. You can tell immediately when your read it that the author poured their heart and soul into the story, and it shows. The diversity is a breath of fresh air, the characters and the story, while dark, is woven and told with such care that my heart breaks. Lei is a brilliant character and her story, so very similar to some people's reality, is a reminder to live despite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Classism, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, War, Kidnapping, Infertility, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

thevieira's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Confinement, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Lesbophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility and Bullying